As police continue to probe the death of a motorcyclist, the City of Richmond is looking into short-term solutions to address safety concerns near the scene of the fatal accident.
Just after 2:30 pm on May 3, a Harley Davidson motorbike and a Coast Mountain bus collided at Fourth Avenue and Chatham Street in Steveston.
The bike was heavily damaged in the accident and its rider, a man in his early 40s from Fort McMurray, sustained critical injuries and later died.
Although Richmond RCMP are still “actively investigating” the accident, city staff are in the process of coming up with a plan to alleviate residents’ concerns about the visibility and safety impacts of having a large number of buses parked on Chatham Street at Second Avenue, about 200 metres from the crash site.
The immediate vicinity is recognized as an informal bus loop, but with no formal public transit exchange in place, the area is known to produce traffic issues.
“Staff are currently developing any feasible short term options to address the bus layover issues until an off-street bus exchange is implemented,” said city spokesperson Ted Townsend via email.
“When these options are identified, staff plan to meet with TransLink staff to evaluate them.”
In the meantime, added Townsend, the “need for placing a high priority on the Steveston Bus Exchange was expressed by the city directly to TransLink” at the recent Elected Officials Forum for the Southwest Area Transport Plan (formerly known as the Richmond Area Transit Plan) held by TransLink.
At a recent public works and transportation meeting at city hall, Victor Wei, the city’s director of transportation, reported that there are typically a large number of buses parked on the north side of Chatham Street.
To address the issues created by the parked buses, said Wei, TransLink has committed to pursuing a permanent solution through the creation of a Steveston Bus Exchange when funding for the Mayors’ Council’s 10-Year Plan is secured.
Councillors on the committee suggested that TransLink be requested to amend the bus schedule or to move the location where buses are parked.
However, Wei advised that the current bus schedule is intended to serve the needs of Richmond residents and that there are labour contract issues which need to be taken into consideration prior to finding a solution.
